Shahbaz Bhatti Freedom Award

Commitment to Courage

Each year, the First Step Forum honors an individual who has demonstrated exceptional commitment and courage in advancing religious freedom and human rights with the Shahbaz Bhatti Freedom Award. This award celebrates those who embody the spirit of fearless advocacy.

Commitment to Courage

Who was Shahbaz Bhatti?

Clement Shahbaz Bhatti (September 9, 1968 – March 2, 2011) was a Pakistani politician and the first Christian Federal Minister for Minorities Affairs. He was elected as a member of the National Assembly in 2008 for the Pakistan People's Party. Bhatti became the only Christian member of Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani's cabinet. On March 2, 2011, Bhatti was assassinated outside his mother's home by members of the Pakistani Taliban for his opposition to Pakistan's blasphemy laws.

A portrait of a man with dark hair, a mustache, wearing a suit, light-colored shirt, and a patterned tie against a plain background.

Previous Award Winners

Valentin Hannan 2025

Pope Francis and three men in suits looking at a colorful document in a room with wooden bookshelves and a large painting.

A woman receiving an award or medal from a man in a gray suit, indoors with curtains in the background.

Aung San Suu Kyi 2013

A man in a suit with glasses shaking hands with a woman in colorful traditional African attire and headwrap, holding a framed certificate at an indoor event with other seated individuals in the background.

Asian man in a dark suit and tie sitting at a table, gesturing with his hands while speaking

Gao Zhisheng, China 2018

Two men shaking hands, one wearing a priest's collar and the other in a bishop's attire with a purple shirt and a cross necklace, standing in front of a green wall.

Bishop Shimoun Daniel, Syrien 2023

Leah Foundation, Nigeria 2019

Pope Francis 2014